New Yorkers Are Systematically Screwed By "Public View" Marijuana Law. These Are Their Stories (Part Five)

This is Steven Glover. According to the Drug Policy Alliance, Steven was standing outside his job training program with his friends when he offered them mints. Police officers approached Steven and asked him to show them what he had just passed to his friend's hand. Without obtaining Steven's consent, the officers searched his pockets. They eventually found of marijuana in his pocket. Steven was charged with possession of marijuana in public view.

In an effort to persuade New York lawmakers to support Governor Andrew Cuomo's push to decriminalize "public view" marijuana arrests, a drug policy group has started a video campaign to illustrate how people are getting screwed by a loophole in the Marijuana Reform Act, which (supposedly) decriminalized weed in the Empire State in 1979.

As it stands, if you're busted with weed in private, you've committed a violation that's about as serious a crime as a parking ticket. However, if you're caught with weed in public, it's a misdemeanor. The loophole has led to the disproportionate arrests of young minorities (of the roughly 50,000 people arrested each year in New York for low-level marijuana offenses, 87 percent are black or Hispanic).

The Drug Policy Alliance has put together a 15-part series of interviews with people explaining how they were screwed by the "public view" portion of New York's marijuana law. Hear the story of Steven Glover below.